Oil prices set for weekly drop as trade worries weigh

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices came under pressure on Friday from U.S.-China trade tensions and were on course for a third straight week of falls. Brent crude was up 57 cents at $73.15 a barrel by 1344 GMT. The expiring U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for August delivery was up 28 cents at $69.74 a barrel, while the more traded September contract fell 13 cents to $68.11. U.S. President Donald Trump said in a CNBC interview he was ready to put tariffs on $500 billion of imported goods from China. Lower oil demand in the United States and China caused by an economic slowdown from their trade dispute would likely weigh heavily on markets. “The impact on world economic growth of a levy of this magnitude will be severe and will likely have a strong negative impact on markets,” Olaf van den Heuvel, Chief Investment Officer at Aegon Asset Management, said. The People’s Bank of China on Friday reduced its mid-point for the yuan for the seventh straight trading day to the lowest in a year. The yuan then retreated to a near 13-month low although it rebounded later. Trump also said he was concerned that the Chinese currency… continue reading